USPS postmark delays can impact taxes, invoices, and deadlines

Depending on where you live, relying on a postmark to prove you mailed your tax return, mail-in ballot, bill payment, or other time-sensitive document by a certain date may not work as well as you might expect.

As the U.S. Postal Service continues to make operational changes to strengthen its finances and modernize its infrastructure, it expects delays between mailing and postmarking to increase, according to a Federal Register notice effective Dec. 24. The postmark indicates the date the mail was processed and has historically been applied on the same day the mail was mailed.

But because pickups at many post offices are restricted and mail is now often transported long distances to local processing centers where it is postmarked, “the postmark date does not inherently or necessarily correspond to the date the mail was first accepted into possession by the post office,” the notice says.

While more households are turning to digital options to file taxes, pay bills, and handle other personal business, some still rely on the postal service to receive time-sensitive mail.

Of the 163.6 million tax returns the IRS received this year, about 10 million were not filed electronically, according to the latest IRS data. About 29% of voters mailed in their ballots last year, according to USAFacts. Additionally, 13% of households paid their bills by mail last year, according to the Postal Service’s 2024 Household Diary Survey.

“Consumers always assume that the post office will postmark their mail the day they drop it off or put it in a box,” said Edgar Dvorsky, founder of the advocacy site Consumer World and a former Massachusetts assistant attorney general focused on consumer protection. “Who would have thought it would take several days for it to be postmarked?”

Although the Postal Service said in the notice that it will not change how mail is postmarked (which has always been done at mail processing facilities), the agency added language to the Domestic Postal Manual to clarify for the public when postmarks apply.

In 2021, the USPS announced an initiative called “Delivering for America” ​​to improve its financial position, which included increasing postage rates and redesigning its network and processing operations.

Thanks to the initiative’s changes to transportation schedules and consolidation of processing facilities, many post offices that previously sent mail to hubs twice a day now send mail only once in the morning, according to a new study from the Brookings Institution. Under the new network, about 26 percent of post offices will be within 80 miles of their assigned regional center, and another 26 percent will be between 150 and 500 miles away, according to the study.

As a result, some mail typically doesn’t start moving through the system until at least the next day, so the postmark from the day you mail it doesn’t apply. In some cases, such as before weekends or holidays, important stamps may take a day or more to be applied.

The importance of timely postmarking of mail applies to a variety of documents and forms that have deadlines. For example, mailed ballots may need to be postmarked by a certain date to be counted, as are federal and state tax returns and certain legal documents.

“If customers want to verify that the postmark matches the date of mailing, they can bring their mail to a post office, train station, or branch and request a (manual postmark) at a retail counter,” according to a statement from the Postal Service.

There is no cost to have a postmark manually postmarked by a postal worker. Alternatively, you can pay $5.30 to have time-sensitive documents sent by certified mail. This includes the sender’s receipt and a return receipt showing when it was delivered and who signed it. Alternatively, a certificate of mailing to keep for your records costs $2.40 and shows the date you mailed something.

“Waiting in line at the post office is never fun, but it gives you proof that your mail was mailed in a timely manner,” said Josh Youngblood, registered agent and founder of the Youngblood Group in Dallas. “Otherwise, the reality is that you are at the mercy of every postmark.”

Given the potential for delays, we encourage you to consider electronic filing or payment options when available. Or, set deadlines for mailing important items well in advance of the official deadline.

Ahead of tax filing season, it’s worth noting that delays are possible. April 15th is the federal tax deadline, but the IRS considers any tax return postmarked on or before April 15th to be filed on time, even if it’s filed several days later.

So if you tend to wait until the last minute to file your tax return and not file it electronically, dropping your return off at the post office or in your mailbox is unlikely to get a postmark that day.

“If you want to mail something to the IRS, you go to the post office, you go to the person and they stamp it,” Youngblood said.

If your tax return is postmarked late and you owe taxes, you may be subject to penalties and interest. “There are penalties for filing late, and even if you’re one day late, you’re still late,” Youngblood said.

For individual tax returns (Form 1040), the late filing penalty is 5% of the tax owed for each month or partial month in which the return is filed late, up to a maximum of 25%. In addition, the penalty for late payments is 0.5% of the outstanding balance per month, again capped at 25%. Interest will also accrue on unpaid balances at the federal short-term interest rate plus 3% daily.

However, if you have filed and paid your taxes on time for the past three years, you can request that the penalty be waived, Youngblood said.